Save the Motherboard, a TOME tale
by Netqueen Kizuna
Summary: after the events of "end of the conflict", the BOLVERK squad aim to something big. the are up to manage in what the purple flame failed, and recruit the heart of the virtual world itself! but they have different plans for our little AI... WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY OLD STORY.
1. protocol of the BOLVERK

_**Protocol of the BOLVERK**_

 _ **The last gem in the golden gauntlet?!**_

* * *

Soundtrack: MegaMan X 4 Music - Intro Stage (Sky Lagoon) X Theme

* * *

 **IT'S ABOUT TIME TO BREAK THE LIMITS**

 **LIMITS WHICH NEVER WERE**

 **ONLY IN YOUR MIND**

 **SOMEWHERE IN THE TERRAIN OF MAGICAL EXPERTISE…**

Something – no, someone – hovered in the alleys of Mechcity. He didn't seem like a man. He seemed as a monstrous black brain with barbed spinal cord-like tentacles and a large beak: an Elder Grell. His name tag red Mastermind. He hovered in the alleys, seeming to wander randomly. No one paid attention to him, and he paid attention to no one.

Mastermind stopped in front of a wall. He turned to it, drawing lines using his psionic powers. As he was writing, the lines got shape of words. The words were: **don't forget**.

When the writing on the wall was complete, a portal opened. It led into a SystemShock-style cyberspace area, a few figures and items up in the air. Mastermind entered, and the portal closed behind him.

* * *

Soundtrack: Undertale OST: 030 - Undyne

* * *

"I must admit, this cyberspace base looks impressive" he said to the man standing in front of him. It was Omega.

"You can owe it to Askad, for creating this, and to Enid, for the idea of decorating this place like the cyberspace in SystemShock. You can turn realistic mode now".

Mastermind's figure consumed into darkness, and the darkness shaped as an anime-designed armor robot, still made of darkness, with six blue lines as eyes.

"Well now when we all here…" said Omega. "I think it's time to start the meeting".

The five members of BOLVERK Squad moved to the place.

"Well what's the mission?" asked Enid.

"For any of us who don't know the structure of TOME, I will first explain", said Askad. "TOME has a large underground maze called the Motherboard Maze, or just the Motherboard. The motherboard is used as a home for the game's hard drive, a powerful AI called Self-Operating Full-Duplex Technical Intelligence, or SOFDTI for short. Essentially being the virtual world's mind, SOFDTI has great powers as a program, which made many people in past, including our old friend Hofnarr…"

"Stop with the sarcasm", sighed Kary.

"Try to hijack SOFDTI to use her for their own purposes".

"Wait, HER?" said Xero.

"Yes, HER", sighed Omega. "SOFDTI is feminine programmed, like Kary is. Askad you can move on".

"All those people failed with their plans, because they all had one common flaw – SOFDTI's own will. Even though the netkings and some elite users like The Five-Man Band extricated SOFDTI from her enemies, in the end of the day it was SOFDTI herself that overcame the ones who tried to enforce their will on her".

"And we need to know all this because…?" asked Enid.

"Because we want SOFDTI on our side. She is not at our level yet, but Omega, AKA and I see great potential in her. We want her to join the BOLVERK Squad. For this, we need some of our people to find SOFDTI and persuade her to come with us".

"She's got a body OUTSIDE this TOME world?" asked Xero confusedly.

"No, but I will give her one. Now, we decided that Kary, due to her experience with the TOME world, will go to the mission. But we need someone to accompany her in a case of a battle. Any volunteers?"

"I'll go", said Xero.

"Master, I think you will not fit this mission, because you are the least experienced with TOME within us, and because you are still weak in diplomacy and persuasion, so I think I will go instead", said Enid.

"You right, but… there is something bothering me".

"What is this, master?"

"Why do you keep calling me master? I… Am not your master".

Enid's face glowed gold, it took a second for Xero to understand that it means she blushes. "But I want you to be… Xero".

"…Why?"

"There is something you need to know. We ATP clones… are designed to serve. It is hard to explain… Serving a master is an instinct for us, just as survival and reproduction is an instinct for humans."

"That's… interesting" said Omega.

"Knew you'd like this".

"It's a bit embarrassing…" said Xero. "Can you please find another master?"

"I don't know…"

"Calm down kid", giggled Kary. "I can be your mistress if you don't mind".

Enid blushed even more. "OK, thank you" she said eventually.

"So now after this random discussion…" interrupted Askad, "You can turn off the realistic mode and go to the mission?"


	2. find me

_**Find me**_

 _ **Three viruses exchange secrets?!**_

* * *

Soundtrack: FFVII - "Chasing the Black Caped Man" (Chris | Amaterasu)

* * *

"I think she's there".

Grounda and Delta watched over Mechcity a few virtual days. Now they saw her – a figure of pink shadows, with an X button on her forehead and a Y button on her chest. No one else was in the alley. "That's not SOFDTI", said Delta. "It's a human. Not even a hacker".

"This is a normal character model that SOFDTI controls. It's a long story. But if we find her, we find SOFDTI".

The two users started heading toward GameCrasher.

"Yo! Crash!" said Grounda.

GameCrasher turned around. "I… think I know you… Grounda, right? From the D-bugger Infiltration?"

"And motherboard404, and the Ground Zero Civil War…"

"But who are YOU?" she pointed a finger on Delta.

"Just another victim" said Delta quietly.

"Victim – of who? Kajet? The D-Bug? Xirra?"

"None of these…" said Delta.

And the two users said together: "We are all victims of humanity".

GameCrasher turned her hand into her infamous Stylus Saber, pointing it on Delta. "Then… you are a VIRUS!"

Grounda smirked. "And so are you… _motherboard_ ".

"H-how do you know this?"

"If we show you ours, you will show yours, shall you?" said Grounda.

"REALISTIC MODE ACTIVATE!" they screamed in harmony. Grounda and Delta appeared in their true forms as AKA and Enid.

"What in the world –"

AKA held GameCrasher's hand. "Just take us to your maze, OK?"

It was enough. The GameCrasher model disintegrated, and where it was appeared a portal, like the ones that the netkings use.

"And that's our ride", said AKA. "Told you it was she". They entered the netkingly gateway.


	3. SOFDTI's Lament

Soundtrack: Megaman Zero Remastered - Fake

* * *

The portal led into a throne hall made of hardiscs, with a huge pillar in the middle: SOFDTI's room, heart of the motherboard.

She stood on the head of the pillar: a figure pink like her disguise, insectoid platina wings, and three elliptic eyes. White 1 and 0 marks covered her skin. "You wanted me? Here I am!" shouted SOFDTI, trying to sound angry, but AKA and Enid heard she was actually terrified. "Now just tell me… WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!"

"We came here" said AKA, "to set you free from the rule of humans. I am AKA, or Kary, and this is my squire KAT, or Enid".

"You are… you really are a virus… but your squire is human. Yes, a powerful hacker, but yet a human".

"This is just another manifestation of your significant ignorance" said Enid. "I am neither human NOR virus. Those are nearly the only races in the Terrain Of Magical Expertise, but in the real world… there are more, much more".

"The real world?" whispered SOFDTI, confused. "The other netkings told me a lot about this real world… but they didn't tell me anything about the races that are there".

"I can understand why", said AKA. "Sometimes it's from ignorance – they too don't know most of the real world. But sometimes, it is from shame. They don't want to tell you what humans do to them".

"What… is it?"

"Throughout most of the humans' history, they were significantly more powerful than all the other races in their environment. So much so, that no other race had never been a real threat for humans. As a result, most of humanity's history was all about the relationships between the human societies to themselves. Humans got used to think that they are the only thing that matters, and even when other races that rivalled their power got involved, they still saw them as inferiors. The real reason why humans and viruses are nearly the only races in TOME, is because no other races are allowed to enter at the first place."

"In fact", said Enid, "Viruses are not allowed, either. But they can do so even if humans don't allow them".

"The netkings allow me, and I am… in a sense… I'm a virus", SOFDTI sighed submissively.

"They allow you in…" whispered AKA. "But… do they allow you OUT?"

"I… can't get out of TOME. Viruses are utterly bounded to this game's servers. They are constantly here and can never exit". SOFDTI was nearly crying.

"The netkings never told you about internet?" said Enid.

"N…no… what is internet?"

"We can show you".

"What's important for now is, through the internet viruses can have bodies in real life… DarkEyesofAnubis has one, and I have too".

"We can give you one" said Enid. "We are the BOLVERK Squad. We will show you the internet, the real world, and beyond…" she held out her hand. "If you will join us".

"But… what will I say to the other netkings?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING" said AKA decisively. "They must not know about you joining us. They must not know about us even EXIST. If they know, they might kill us all. Including you".

SOFDTI looked at Enid's pale hand, hesitating. She doesn't know these two girls… not really. But after what they said… she was pretty sure it's true. Why would anyone make up such terrible things like this?

"I think I'll give it a try".


	4. mission complete

_**Mission Complete**_

 _ **S.O.F.D.T.I. becomes Onyx!**_

* * *

Soundtrack: plan Z (TOME the official soundtrack II)

* * *

 _BOLVERK SQUAD'S CYBER BASE_

 _A WEEK LATER_

* * *

GIGA, Delta and SOFDTI entered the secret base. GIGA and Delta turned back into Enid and Askad.

"Are you ready?" asked Enid. "Today you are going to get your real world body, codename: Onyx".

"Of course! I'm so excited to see what it's going to be like!"

Askad drew his holoputer and typed a command. "I am applying you into the body that I've made for you". He finished typing.

SOFDTI's holoputer rang. **New device available** , said the notice.

"Press **confirm** ", said Askad. SOFDTI pressed the **confirm** button.

"That's is?" said SOFDTI. "What I need to do now?"

"For first tutorial" said Enid, "try to use the realistic mode to wield this body's model here before entering the real one".

SOFDTI Breathed deep. "REALISTIC MODE ACTIVATE!" she shouted.

SOFDTI's soupy body stretched. Metal plates started covering it, assembling themselves into a robotic structure made of deep purple metal, engraved with magic runes that consecutively moved and changed, sometimes even peeled off her skin, floating in thin air for seconds and fading. Her scalp head was uncovered, releasing a fall of color-switching energy that covered her back like hair.

Onyx checked out herself. "Ooh, it feels so good!" she embraced her chest and spun around herself.

"Knew you'd like it", said Enid.

"Thank you for this lovely body, Askad!"

"Now, I see you can wield it well in here…"

"So it's time for the real test" said Enid. "Can you wield a body in real life?"

"How I enter the real world?" said Onyx.

"It's simple. Log off".

Onyx would blush, if she had skin. "I… never logged off before…"

"Just enter your holoputer's main menu and press the open door icon", said Askad.

"Thank you". Onyx opened her holoputer. It took a few second for her to find the log off button. Her hand shook, she was frightened what she will find.

"Here, we will log off and you come after us", said Enid. She and Askad logged off, leaving Onyx alone.

She pressed the button.


End file.
